7 Catherine II 7

Catherine II

(b. April 21 [May 2, New Style], 1729, Stettin, Prussia [now Szczecin,

Poland]—d. Nov. 6 [Nov. 17], 1796, Tsarskoye Selo [now Pushkin],

near St. Petersburg, Russia)

G

erman-born empress of Russia (1762– 96), Catherine

II the Great, born Sophie Friederike Auguste,

Prinzessin von Anhalt-Zerbst, led her country into full

participation in the political and cultural life of Europe.

Origins and Early Experience

At age 14, Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst,

the daughter of an obscure German prince, was chosen to

be the wife of Karl Ulrich, duke of Holstein-Gottorp,

grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the throne of

Russia as the grand duke Peter. In 1744 Catherine assumed

the title of Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseyevna and

married her young cousin the following year. The marriage

was a complete failure, and the following 18 years were

filled with deception and humiliation for Catherine.

Catherine would not have become empress if her hus-

band had been at all normal. He was extremely neurotic,

rebellious, obstinate, nearly alcoholic, and, most seriously,

a fanatical worshipper of Frederick II of Prussia, the foe

of the empress Elizabeth—Russia’s then ruler and Peter

the Great’s daughter. Catherine, by contrast, was clear-

headed and ambitious, intelligent, possessed considerable

charm, and had a great love of Russia, which gained her

much support. During her husband’s lifetime, she had at

least three lovers, and it is possible that none of her three

children, not even the heir apparent Paul, was fathered by

her husband. Her true passion, however, was ambition;

she saw quite early the possibility of eliminating him and

governing Russia herself.